PM Harper, First Nations chiefs meet

‘IDLE NO MORE’:The meeting was a key demand of protesters, including a grand chief on hunger strike, but some boycotted it over the governor-general’s absence

AP, TORONTO

First Nations protesters march toward Parliament Hill before the start of a meeting between chiefs and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper in Ottawa, Canada, on Friday.

Photo: Reuters

Thousands of Aboriginal rights activists protested in front of Canada’s Parliament as Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and First Nations chiefs attended a summit to discuss disagreements over treaty rights and other grievances.

The meeting on Friday divided the First Nations community, with some chiefs boycotting the summit because Canadian Governor-General David Johnston, a representative of Queen Elizabeth II, did not attend. They said his presence was imperative because he was a representative of the British monarchy and the talks center on treaty rights first established by the Royal Proclamation of 1793.

The meeting between Harper, other top government officials, National Chief Shawn Atleo and 20 other native Canadian leaders ended late on Friday with plans to meet again within a month to continue the dialogue on treaties and comprehensive land claims, Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development John Duncan said.

Atleo declared that Harper has finally agreed to modernize and implement the ancient treaties that were always supposed to bring peace and prosperity to First Nations.

There were early indications that what Atleo saw as a critical achievement, others saw as insufficient. A spokesman for Chief Theresa Spence, whose month-old fast has galvanized a cross-country grassroots protest movement, said late on Friday the results of the meeting fell short of what was required for her to abandon her liquid diet.

Atleo defended what was delivered in the meeting with the prime minister.

“The implications here are massive,” the grand chief of the Assembly of First Nations said.

Atleo, the elected head of the Assembly of First Nations, Canada’s main body of Aboriginal leaders, said earlier this week that some chiefs want the Harper government to review sections of two budget bills that amend environmental laws. They are also demanding that a formal process be established to examine long-standing treaties.

Atleo also had said he would demand a national inquiry into the disappearance or killings of hundreds of Aboriginal women over the past decades with little police investigation. He planned also to bring up the need for a commitment to ensure every Aboriginal community has a school.

The governor-general was scheduled to meet separately with chiefs after the summit, but some chiefs said that was not enough.

“They are meeting with him now, that was the appropriate response,” Duncan said in response to questions from reporters about why Johnston did not attend the meeting with Harper.

Among those boycotting was Spence, who launched a liquids-only hunger strike a month ago to demand the summit. Spence, the chief of Attawapiskat, a northern Ontario reserve, has become a central figure of Aboriginal rights protests that erupted almost two months ago against a budget bill that affects Canada’s Indian Act and amends environmental laws.

The “Idle No More” movement, which has shown unusual staying power and garnered a worldwide following through social media, has reopened constitutional issues involving the relationship between the federal government and the million-plus strong First Nations community.